Details are scarce at this stage but if Microsoft uses this technology to automatically isolate any executable that’s not trusted or expected on a PC, it will improve Windows 10’s security by making it harder for unexpected software to get a toehold in a PC.

It could also be a handy adjunct to Windows 10 S, the new mode for Windows 10 that only allows users to run software from the Microsoft store.

However, there’s a risk that hardening Windows 10 in this way could irritate endpoint security vendors by allowing Microsoft to make a case that businesses can contemplate a little less on-PC protection.

Accepting that argument would not be wise: malware makers long ago mastered the trick of detecting if their wares are running in a VM so that they can prevent white hat hackers from watching it try to escape isolation.

One more thing: in mid-2017 Microsoft established bug bounties for Hyper-V. And fair enough, too, given that Azure uses it for countless cloudy VMs.

But perhaps Microsoft was also making sure the hypervisor was ready to take on a new role on the desktop.

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